Mobile crane



G. E. VALLA MOBILE CRANE Feb. 14, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 8, 1965 Feb. 14, 1967 G. E. VALLA 3,303,940

MOBILE CRANE Filed Sept. 8, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR m zdmww Feb. 14, 1967 G. E. VALLA MOBILE CRANE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 8, 1965 INVENTOR 6', a m panic L V United States Patent 3,303,940 MOBILE CRANE Gian Eduardo Valla, Milan, Italy, assignor to Antonio Valia & C.S.p.A., Milan, Italy, a company of Italy Filed Sept. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 485,765 iaims priority, application Italy, Aug. 6, 1965,

7,866/65, Patent 17,830 4 Claims. (Cl. 212S) This invention relates to a mobile crane for lifting and transporting loads, in particular, intended for loading and unloading of lorries, vans, railway vans, and for transporting and storing goods in good yards, workshops, industrial plants, goods stations and the like.

Loading devices of this kind are known, generally comprising a frame, a crane-jib mounted thereon and a combined control and driving unit fitted with a driving wheel and drivingly rotatable through 360 degrees with respect to the frame and about a vertical axis, cantilever ar-ms extending from said frame at the end of the frame remote from said control and driving unit.

Loading devices of the kind outlined above suffered, however, from a considerable shortcoming, in that an operator, sitting on the drivingly rotatable control and driving unit aforesaid, had but a limited access to the plural-way hydraulic distributor responsible for the actuation of the jib-actuating jacking devices: stated another way an operator could have a full access to a jacking device control unit only if he had provided to preset the plural-way distributor, generally solidly aflixed to the frame, for feeding hydraulic fluid to the desired jacking device.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a mobile crane wherein the operator has a convenient access to the jacking device control members irrespective of the angular position of the control and driving unit with respect to the cranes frame.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mobile crane of the kind referred to hereinabove, in which the driving and control member proper may constitute a compact, easily operable and self-contained assembly.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a mobile crane of the kind referred to above in which the operator is not diverted from the steering manoeuvre of the driving control unit when actuating the jib-lifting and telescoping jacking devices.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the ensuing detailed disclosure of a preferred embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatical side elevational view of the inventive mobile crane.

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatical plan view of the crane.

FIGURE 3 is a view of the hydraulic controls and connections, the control and driving unit being shown in phantom lines, and

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines IVIV of FIG. 3.

Having now particular reference to the accompanying drawings, and to FIG. 1 thereof at the outset, it will be seen that the inventive mobile crane essentially comprises a frame 101 about which the telescopable jib arm 102 is pivotable, three wheels two of which, 103-104 are mounted at the end of the cantilever arms 106-106, respectively, while the third one, 105, is a driving and steering wheel at the same time and is an integral part of the control and driving unit 107. The latter is rotatable about a vertical axis ZZ and is connected to the frame 101 via a hollow shaft 103 coupled, in turn, to said unit 107 via the worm gear 130431. The unit 107, in

3,303,940 Patented Feb. 14, 1967 "ice addition to the engine, gearbox and all the necessary control members, comprises the drivers seat 109 confronting the steering wheel 110.

To control the jacking devices 111-112 which are intended for lifting the jib arm and telescoping same, respectively, the hydraulic circuit comprises: a pump 113 (best seen FIG. 3) which sucks oil from a reservoir 114 via a pipe 200 and forwards it via a duct 115 to a twindistributor unit formed by two distinct bodies, viz. 116 and 117, from which distributor return pipes 118 go to the reservoir, while the feeding pipes 119, and 121 are intended for feeding and discharging said jacking devices.

The operative principle of the twin-distributor is based on the sliding motion of two sliding valves.

FIGURE 4 shows in cross-sectional view the body 116 which contains the driving slide valve 205 of the jib-lifting ram 111. A similar slide valve, which is however of the dual action type while having a structure similar to the slide valve aforesaid, controls the telescoping movement of the jib-arm 102 via the ram 112 and the control lever 125.

In the position shown in FIG. 4, i.e. the control lever 124 set to neutral, the oil coming from the pump 113 via the pipe 115 comes to the slit 201 of the distributor 116 and passes through the conduit 204 thus arriving at the slit 203 wherefrom, via the pipe 118, is discharged into the reservoir 114. Oil flow towards the conduit 202 (which is connected to the jib-lifting jacking device) is prevented by the presence of the plugging member 205 of the slide valve, which obstructs the way.

Should the lever 124 be shifted so as to cause the valve plugging member to be displaced upwardly (as in FIG. 4), a communication is established between slit 201 and duct 202, the slit 203 being concurrently closed. Pressurized oil is thus compelled to feed the jib-lifting ram 111 via duct 202, pipe 119, the rotatable hydraulic joint 122 and pipe 119. The lifting movement of the ram 111 and of the arm 102 is thus completed.

If, conversely, lever 124 is manipulated so as to displace the plugging member of the slide valve, 205, downwardly, the conduit 202 becomes connected to the slit 203 and the oil contained in the ram 111 is dumped through the connection members aforesaid into the reservoir 114 again. By so doing, both the ram 111 and the arm 102 are depressed.

As already outlined, a distributor of quite similar a configuration is provided for the jacking ram 112, the only difference being that, this being the case, the body 117 has a dual-action operability and is equipped with pipes 120, 121 and 120', 121' for effecting the connections upstream and downstream, respectively, of the ram 112, inasmuch as the gravitational pull cannot be resorted to for restoring the telescopable arm 102 and the piston of the relevant jacking device 112 to their retracted position.

The already indicated pipes 119-120421 reach the rams passing through the pivotable hydraulic joint 122 and the pipes 119', 120' and 121 coming out of said joint, pass through the central h-ollowing-out 123 of the shaft 108 about which the whole control and driving unit 107 can be rotated (axis ZZ FIG. 4) with respect to the frame 101.

The twin-distributor unit 116-117 can thus be readily and conveniently controlled by an operator by means of the two control levers 124 (lifting movement) and 125 (telescoping movement), no matter which is the angular position of the control and driving unit since the distributor and the control levers rotate solidly with the control and driving unit whereon they are mounted.

It can thus be readily appreciated that, owing to the particular connection between the driving and control unit on the one hand, and the frame on the other hand,

& this connection consisting in its general form of a first pipe section connected to jacking members aflixed to the frame, a hydraulic rotatable connection unit and a second pipe section leading to a twin-distributor solid with the control and driving unit, an operator is enabled to control the hydraulic jacking devices without being diverted from the manipulation and check of the driving and control unit.

Stated another way, an operator has all the steering and control members at hand irrespective of what the angular position of the control and driving unit of the mobile crane is with respect to the respective frame.

These features afford the paramount advantage that the manoeuvre of a mobile crane of the kind referred to above is outstandingly facilitated with respect to what had been with the arrangements provided by the prior and contemporary art.

What is claimed is:

1. A crane comprising a mobile frame; a jib mounted on said frame for movement about a substantially horizontal axis and including a plurality of relatively movable sections; first and second jacks provided on said frame for respectively moving the jib about said axis and for moving said sections with reference to each other; a selfpowered driving unit supportingly connected with and rotatable relative to said frame about a substantially vertical axis, said driving unit comprising road Wheel means arranged to swivel about said vertical axis, steering means for rotating said wheel means through 360 degrees, and a source of pressurized hydraulic fluid; first conduit means connected with said jacks; second conduit means connected with said source; coupling means connecting said first and second conduit means and means to rotate said driving unit about said vertical axis Without interferring with the flow of fluid between said conduit means; con- 4 trol valve means provided in said second conduit means to regulate the flow of fluid to and from said jacks; and actuating means for said control valve means provided on said driving unit within reach of the person supported by said self-powered driving unit and manipulating said steering means.

2. A crane as set forth in claim 1, wherein the connection between said driving unit and said frame comprises a hollow shaft fixed to the frame and having an axis coinciding with said vertical axis, said first conduit means having portions extending through said shift and said coupling means comprising a first portion fixed to said shaft and a second portion communicatively connected with said first portion, secured to said second conduit means, and rotatable about said vertical axis.

3. A crane as set forth in claim 2, wherein said control valve means comprises two separate valves each of which controls the flow of fluid to and from one of said jacks, said actuating means comprising a separate actuating member for each of said valves and said actuating members being adjacent to said steering means.

4. A crane as set forth in claim 2, wherein said driving unit further comprises a housing which is rotatable about said shaft and wherein said valve means comprises a separate valve for each of said jacks, said driving unit also comprising a two-part distributor assembly and each of said valves being provided in one part of said distributor assembly.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,163,298 12/1964 Wyld 21249 ANDRES H. NIELSEN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A CRANE COMPRISING A MOBILE FRAME; A JIB MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME FOR MOVEMENT ABOUT A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL AXIS AND INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF RELATIVELY MOVABLE SECTIONS; FIRST AND SECOND JACKS PROVIDED ON SAID FRAME FOR RESPECTIVELY MOVING THE JIB ABOUT SAID AXIS AND FOR MOVING SAID SECTIONS WITH REFERENCE TO EACH OTHER; A SELFPOWERED DRIVING UNIT SUPPORTINGLY CONNECTED WITH AND ROTATABLE RELATIVE TO SAID FRAME ABOUT A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL AXIS, SAID DRIVING UNIT COMPRISING ROAD WHEEL MEANS ARRANGED TO SWIVEL ABOUT SAID VERTICAL AXIS, STEERING MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID WHEEL MEANS THROUGH 360 DEGREES, AND A SOURCE OF PRESSURIZED HYDRAULIC FLUID; FIRST CONDUIT MEANS CONNECTED WITH SAID JACKS; SECOND CONDUIT MEANS CONNECTED WITH SAID SOURCE; COUPLING MEANS CONNECTING SAID FIRST AND SECOND CONDUIT MEANS AND MEANS TO ROTATE SAID DRIVING UNIT ABOUT SAID VERTICAL AXIS WITHOUT INTERFERRING WITH THE FLOW OF FLUID BETWEEN SAID CONDUIT MEANS; CONTROL VALVE MEANS PROVIDED IN SAID SECOND CONDUIT MEANS TO REGULATE THE FLOW OF FLUID TO AND FROM SAID JACKS; AND ACTUATING MEANS FOR SAID CONTROL VALVE MEANS PROVIDED ON SAID DRIVING UNIT WITHIN REACH OF THE PERSON SUPPORTED BY SAID SELF-POWERED DRIVING UNIT AND MANIPULATING SAID STEERING MEANS. 